Shell body



Oct. 10, 1944.

J. w; AYDELOTTE' SHELL BODY Filed Dec. 21, 1942 WWW Patented Oct. 10, 1944 SHELL BODY John W. Aydelotte, Philadelphia, Pa.

Application December 21, 1942, Serial No. 469,768

2 Claims.

My invention relates to a new and useful shell body comprising two hollow sections assembled as. a unitary structure by a force fit joint and enclosing a. coil of strong flexible cable, high tensile piano wire or the like having an end fastened to each body section so that when the sections are separated. by a fired charge of explosive, also contained within the body, the wire willbe played out and with the sections provide a bolas, slingor similar device.

One of the objects of the invention i to provide an antiaircraft missile that will have piercing, ripping, shearing and binding qualities so as to damage, in some manner, any airship that the device comes in contact with.

With the above and other objects in view this invention consists of the details of construction and combination of elements hereinafter set forth and then designated by the claims.

In order that those skilled in the art to which this invention appertains may understand how to make and use the same, I will describe its construction in detail referring by numerals to the accompanying drawing forming a part hereof, in which:

Fig. 1 is a sectional elevation of a shell body constructed in accordance with my invention.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation, on a reduced scale, of the device after the sections of the shell body have been separated and the wire or cable has been partly played out to constitute a bolas, sling or the like.

Fig. 3 is a perspective View of an aeroplane showing, in a slightly exaggerated position or condition, how the bolas may wrap around a part or parts of the aeroplane to put the latter out of control.

Fig. 4 is an end view of the spool on which the wire or cable may be wound for assembly in the section of the shell body.

In carrying out my invention as herein embodied 5 represents the heel section and 6 denotes the nose section of the shell body. Both of these sections are hollow so that when assembled a wire holding chamber 1 is provided. It is to be understood that where wire is referred to herein, such term is to cover cable or other suitable fiexible tie means.

One of the body sections, as the heel section 5 has an external rabbet 8 at its inner or meeting end and the other section, as the nose section 6, has an internal rabbet 9 at its inner or meeting end. The reduced inner end of the heel section, formed by its rabbeted portion, is inserted into the counter bore of the nose section, produced by the rabbeted' portion of the latter, to form a snugly fitting or forced joint l0 so-that the two sections are held together only by friction and will not separate under all ordinary handling conditions. The joint also makes the wire chamber 1 air and gas tight.

The shell body thus provided may be of any size or shape to conform to army and navy specifications and the necessary calibration. can be made without altering the-present guns. The heel section 5 of the shell body carries the usual rotating band H and also has a crimping groove l2 for clinching said body to its shell. In the outer end of the heel section is an opening l3 of any suitable size and configuration to accommodate a timer of any appropriate design.

The sections of the shell body are forced apart at the predetermined or preselected time by a suitable charge of explosive, which charge may be relatively small because a high pressure is not required to separate said sections. A center or firing tube I4 is provided between the body sections within the chamber 1 and this tube may contain a sufficient quantity of explosive to accomplish the parting action or, in addition, an explosive cavity l5 may be provided in one of the sections, as the nose section 6. Other arrangements and locations of the explosive holding structures can be provided by ordnance designers.

The center or firing tube may be a part of the spool l6 which also includes end plates or flanges H. The chamber 1 contains a coil of wire l8, which, as previously stated, may be high tensile piano or other wire, flexible cable or the like. The wire may be wound in various ways and for convenience of illustration it is shown herein as wound upon the spool with the ends lying in the notches IS in the end flanges I1 and the wire terminals provided with eyes 20 which are inserted in the holes 2|, one in each body section, communicating with the chamber 1. Transverse holes 22 cross the holes 2| and the walls of said holes 22 are threaded to receive screws 23 projected through the eyes 20 of the wire terminals. This ties the two body sections together and forms the bolas and the distance between the two sections is regulated by the length of wire which, in turn, is governed by the gauge of wire used and the capacity of the chamber 1 relative to the size of the shell body.

After the shell body has been fired from a gun, the body sections will be separated when the timer fires the explosive charge contained the shell body. This will cause the wire to be played out as suggested in Fig. 2 and thereafter the parts resulting bolas is fired at an airship and the body sections strike the same, they would pierce elements of such airship and shear or rip the metal sheets, fabric covering or other parts. I

Should the. tie wire contact the rudder, ailerons, elevators or flaps, the body sections would wrap said wire around such elements and contiguous parts of the airship, as suggested in Fig. 3, thus confining said elements in the positions at which they were set at the time of contact thus causing the pilot to lose control of his airship. In another instance, should the wire of the bolas strike the propeller it will be wrapped around a'blade throwing said propeller oil balance, damaging any parts which the body sections might strike, possibly'impairing the motor or its mountings and 'probably tearing said motor from the airship.

It is to be particularly noted that the body sections are separated by the firing of an exposive charge and that both of said body'sections are the weights which, with the tie wire, then constitute and function similar to a bolas.

It might be well to state that a bolas as used herein is similar to the instrumentality used by the gauchos of South America, and others, for hurling at and entangling an animal, especially the feet or legs thereof.

Of course I do not wish to be limited tothe exact details of construction hereinshown and described as these may be varied within the scope of the appended claims'without departing from the spirit of my invention.

will function as a bolas. If the shell body and the Having described my invention what I claim as new and useful is:

1. A shell body consisting of .a hollow heel and nose sections normally connected by a force joint and providing a Wire holding chamber, the heel section having an opening for a timer, a. spool including a center tube and end flanges,

the latter having notches in the edges thereof,

and flexible tie wire on said spool with the ends lying in the notches and secured to the body sections, said center tube adaptedto contain a charge of explosive which when fired by the timer will part the body sections so that said sections and wire function like a bolas.

2. A shell body consisting of hollow heel and nose sections partially telescoping one another to provide a wire holding chamber, each of said sections having 'a longitudinal hole adjacent the outer end and a transverse threaded hole crossing said longitudinal hole, a spool including a center tube and end flanges, the latter having notches therein, a flexible tie wire on said spool with the ends of the wirelying in said notches, said spool and tie wire being positioned in the hollows of the heel and .nose sections with thenotches aligned with the iongitudinal holes, eyes on the ends of said tie wire and projecting into the longitudinal holes, and screws in the transverse holes and passing through the eyes to fasten the heel. andnose sections to opposite ends of the tie wire. 1

JOHN W. AYDELOTTE, 

